All posts tagged: multiculturalism

If you don’t have anything planned for today, head to City Square in the CBD for the 2015 Mosaic Festival. Run by the Victorian Immigrant & Refugee Women’s Coalition (VIRWC), the festival celebrates our cultural diversity and encourages the participation of the whole community. There will be all kind of tasty cuisines — Filipino (GJ’s Grill), Afghan, Syrian, Malay, Indonesian (MiHUB Cafe) and Turkish (Alevi Community Council) — as well as live performances and stalls. If you need any more incentive to attend, the incredibly talented Ning Xue will be there doing one-minute portraits for lucky visitors. This is such a lovely initiative, and if I wasn’t house-bound with the flu I’d definitely be there. The festival will start at 11am and runs till 5pm. Show your support for these lovely ladies and our community’s cultural diversity today — and treat yourself to some tasty treats! Mosaic Festival 2015 Date: 26 April 2015 Time: 11am–5pm Where: City Square, Melbourne CBD Damage: Free Advertisements

Everyone loves a block party. This Saturday, the Peel Street Block Party will rock it with live music, a fashion show, food and market stalls, and live art. Presented by Three Thousand, Northside Records and The Social Studio — a fashion school-slash-label focussed on providing training and employment opportunities to youth migrants and refugees — this event will feature acts including Banoffee, Baro, Queen Magic and performance poet Abe Nouk. Check out the event’s Facebook page for all the juicy details. This is exactly the kind of event that Melbourne does well — casual, creative, multicultural. Get down to Collingwood to soak up the vibes from 12pm to 6pm. Peel Street Block Party 2015 Date: 14 March 2015 Time: 12pm–6pm Address: Corner of Peel St and Oxford St, Collingwood Damage: Free

Melbourne has given birth to another exciting festival, this time in celebration of Victoria’s multicultural women. Featuring music, cooking demonstration, traditional ceremonies and a marketplace, the Mosaic Festival is focussed on helping the state’s multicultural women share their stories with the wider community — an initiative well worth supporting. The festival is just over two weeks away, so mark it in your diaries and get down to QV Square to enjoy this inaugural event. And if you are yourself from a multicultural background, the festival organisers welcome you to attend in traditional dress. Mosaic Festival Date: 21 April 2013 Time: 12pm–4pm Venue: QV Square (behind Queen Victoria Centre), corner of Lonsdale and Swanston Streets, Melbourne Email: events@virwc.org.au Facebook: www.facebook.com/virwc Twitter: @virwc #mosaicfestival

One of the truly wonderful things about Melbourne is its rich and varied multiculturalism. According to the 2006 census, this city is home to the second-largest Asian population in Australia, including the country’s largest Indian and Sri Lankan communities. We are made up of 180 nationalities who speak 233 languages, and almost a quarter of our inhabitants were born overseas. For a travel junkie like me, access to a range of cultures is a necessity. And one of the best places to indulge my addiction is Little Saigon Market in Footscray. If you come here around closing time – between, say, 5.30pm and 7pm, especially on a weekend – this place will be in full swing. Vietnamese-speaking fruit vendors will push trays of exotic-looking fruit slices under your nose, urging you to sample and buy. You can pick up entire bags full of fruit and vegetables for a pittance, then duck across to the meat and fish counters for your week’s supplies. The noise and the bustle is fantastic; you really will feel as though you have …